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SPEECH 

^ .^ OF ^' " 

OK THB 

EESTRICTION OF SLAVERY 

IN MISSOURI. 

-DELITERED IN THE SENATE OE THE UNITED STATES, 
JANUARY 20, 1820. 



Mr. Macon, of North-Carolina, said, he agreed 
in opinion with the gentlemen who had declared this to 
be the greatest question ever debated in the Senate, 
and that it ought to be discussed in the most calm and 
cool manner ; without attempting to excite passion or 
prejudice. It was, however, to be regretted, that, while 
some of those who supported the motion were quite 
calm and cool, tbey used % good many hard words, 
which had no tendency to continue the good humour 
they recommended. He would endeavor to follow their 
advice, but must be pardoned for not following their ex- 
ample, in the use of hard words: if, however, one should 
escape him, it would be contrary to his ntention, and an 
act of indiscretion, not of design or premeditation ; he 
hope«l to examine the subject with great meekness and 
kumility. 

The debate had brought forcibly to his recollection 
the anxiety of the best patriots ©f the nation, when the 
present constitution was examined by the state conven. 
lions which adopted it. The public mind was then 
greatly excited, and men in whom the people properly 
placed the utmost confidence, were divided. There 
was then no whisper about disunion : every one consi- 
dered the Union as absolutely necessary for the good of 
all, J3ut, to-day we have been told^ by the honorable 



I^. 



2 ^ 

gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Lowrie) that he 
would prefer disunion, rather than slaves should be car- 
ried west of the Mississippi. Age, Mr. M. said, may have 
rendered him timid, or education may have prevailed on 
him to attach greater blessmgs to the Union and the Con- 
stitution than they deserve. If this be the case, and it 
be an error, it was one he had no desire to be free from, 
even after what he had heard in this debate. Get clear 
of this Union and this constitution, and it will be found 
vastly more difficult to unite again and form another, 
than it was to form this. There were no parties in the 
country at the time it was formed ; not even upon this 
question. The men who carried the nation through the 
revolution were aHve, and members of the convention; 
Washington was at their head. Have we a Washington 
now ? No. Is there one in the nation to fill his 
place ? No. His Uke, if ever, has been rarely seen ; 
nor can we, rationally, expect another in our day. Let 
us not speak of disunion as an easy thing. If ever it shall, 
unfortunately, come, it will bring evils enough for the 
best men to encounter ; and all good men, in every na- 
tion, lovers of freedom, will lament it. This constitu- 
tion is now as much an experiment as it was in the year 
1789. It went into operation about the time the French 
revolution commenced. The wars which grew out of 
that, and the difficulties and perplexities which we had 
to encounter, in consequence of the improper acts of bel- 
ligerents, kept the people constantly attached ^o the 
government. It has stood well the trial of trouble and 
of war, and answered, in those times, the purposes for 
which it was formed and adopted : but now is to be tri- 
ed, in time of universal peace, whether a government, 
within a government, can sustain itself and preserve the 
liberty of the citizen. When we are told disunion, rather 
than slaves be carried over the Mississippi, it ought not 
to be forgotten that the union of the people and the con- 
federation carried us through the Revolutionary War; a 
war, of which no man can wish to see the like again in 
this country ; but, as soon as peace came, it was found to 
be entirely unfit for it ; so unfit, that it was g'iven up for 
the present constitution. Destroy it, and what may be 
the condition of the country, no man, not the most saga- 
cious, can even imagine. It will surely be much worse 
than it was before it was adopted, and that must be weU 
remembered. 

The amendment is calculated to produce geographi- 
cal parties ; or why admonish us to discuss it with mode- 
ration and good temper. No man who has witnessed the 
effect of parties nearly geographical, can wish to see 



ihem revived. Their acts formerly produced uneasi- 
ness, to say the least of them, to good men of every par- 
ty. General Washington has warned us agamst them ; 
but he is now dead, and his advice may soon be forgot- 
ten ; form geographical parties, and it will be neglected. 
Instead of forming sectional parties, it would be mere 
patriotic to do them away. But party and patriotism are 
not always the same. Town meetings and resolutions to 
inflame one part of the nation against another, can ne- 
ver benefit the people, though they may gratify an indivi- 
dual. A majority of them want things right. Leave 
them to form their own opinions, without the aid of in- 
flammatory speeches at town meetings, and they will al- 
ways form' them correctly. What interest or motive can 
the good people of one part of the country have, for 
meeting and endeavoring to irritate those of another ? 
No town meeting was necessary to inform or inflame the 
public mind against the law giving members of Congress 
a salarv instead of a daily allowance. The people form- 
ed their own opinions, disapproved it, and it was repeal- 
ed. So they will always act, if left to themselves. Let 
not parties, formed at home for state purposes,be brought 
into Congress, to disturb and distract the Union. The 
general government hitherto has been productive e. 
nough of them, to satisfy those who most deUghtin them, 
that they are not likely to be long wanted in it. Enough 
and more than enough, has been produced, by the diffi, 
culty of deciding what is, and what is not, within, the- 
limits of the constitution. And, at this moment, we 
have difficulties enough to scuffle with, without adding 
the present question. The dispute between the Bank 
of the United States, and those of the States ; the want 
of money by the government; the people not in a condi- 
tion to increase the taxes, because more indebted at 
home than they ever were ; and the dispute with Spain ; 
might serve for this session. But the beginners of these 
town meetings mav be like the beginners of the address- 
es of old — want office. If this should be the case, the 
government is too poor to gratify them. It is more easy 
to inflame the public mind, than'to quiet it when inflam- 
ed. A child may set the woods on fire, but it requires 
jrreat exertions to extinguish it. This now very great 
que^ion, was but a spark at the last session. 

All the states now have equal rights, and all are con- 
tent. Deprive one of the least right which it now enjoys 
in common with the others, and it will no longer be con 
tent. So, if Government had an unlimited power to p u 
whatever conditions it pleased on the admission of a 
new stats into the Union, a state admitted with a condi- 



tion unknown to the others, would not be content, no 
matter what might be the character of the condition, even 
though it was not to steal or commit murder. The dif- 
ference in the terms fef admission would not be accepta- 
ble. All the new states have the same rights that the old 
have ; and why make Missouri an exception ? She has 
not done a single act to deserve it ; and why depart, in 
her case, from the great American principle, that the peo- 
ple can govern themselves ? No reason has been as- 
signed for the attempt at the departure, nor can one be 
assigned, which would not apply as strong to Louisiana. 
In every free country that ever existed, the first viola- 
tions of tht principles of the government were indirect, 
and not well understood, or supported with great zeal, by 
a part of the people. 

All the country west of the Mississippi was acquired by 
the same treaty, and on the same terms, and the people 
in every part have the same rights ; but, if the amend- 
ment be adopted, Missouri will Hot have the same rights 
which Louisiana now enjoys. She has been admitted in- 
to the Union as a full sister, but her twin sister Missouri, 
under the proposed amendment, is to be admitted as a 
sister of the haif-blood, or rather as a step-daughter, un- 
der an unjust step-mother : for what ? Because she, as 
well as Louisiana, performed well her part during the 
late war ; and because she has never given the General 
Government any trouble. The operation of the amend- 
ment is unjust, as it relates to the people who have mov- 
ed there from the other states. They carried with them 
the property which was common in the states they left, 
secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the U- 
nitel States, as well as by the treaty. There they pur- 
chased public lands and settled with their slaves, without 
a single objection to their owning and carrying them ; 
but now, unfortunately for them, it is discovered that 
they ought not to have been permitted to have carried a 
single one. What a pity it is, the discovery had not been 
made before they sold their land in the old states and 
moved. They must now sell their land and move again, 
or sell their slaves which they have raised, or have them 
taken from them, and this after they have been at the 
trouble and expense of building houses and clearing plan- 
tations in the new country ; not, it seems, for themselves 
and children, but for those who are considered a better 
people. The country was bought with the money of all, 
slave liolders as well as those who are not so ; and every 
one knew, when he bought land and moved with his pro- 
perty, he had a perfect right to do so. And no one, till 
last session, ever said to the contrary, or moved the re- 



striction about slaves. The object, now avowed, is to 
pen up the slaves and their ownei-s, and not permit them 
to cross the Mississippi, to better their condition, where 
there is room enough for all, and good range for man and 
beast. And man is as much improved by moving and 
range, as the beast of the field. But what is still more 
unaccountable, apart of the land granted to the soldiers 
for their services in the late war, was laid off in Missouri 
expressly for the soldiers who had enlisted in the South- 
ern states, and would prefer living where they might 
have slaves. These, too, are now to leave the country of 
their choice, and the land obtained by fighting the bat- 
tles of the nation. Is this just, in a government of law, 
supported only by opinion, for it is not pretended that it 
is a government of force ? In the most alarming state of 
our affairs at home, and some ot them have had an ugly 
appearance, public opinion alone has corrected and 
changed that which seemed to threaten disorder and ill- 
will, into order and good will, except once, when the mi- 
litary was called out, in 1791. Let this be compared to 
the case of individuals, and it will not be found to be more 
favorable to the amendment, than the real case just stat- 
ed. A and B buy a tract of land large enough for both, 
and for their children, and settle it, build houses, and 
open plantations. When they have got in a good way to 
live comfortably, after ten or fifteen years, A thinks there 
is not too much for him and his children, and that they 
can, a long time hence, settle and cultivate the whole 
land. He tlien, the first time, tells B that he has some 
property he does not like, and that he must get clear of 
it, or move. B states the bargain. A answers, it is true, 
that he understood it so till of late ; but, that move he 
must, or get clear of the property ; for that property 
should not be in his way. The kind or quality of pro- 
perty cannot affect the question. Nay, if it was only a 
difference in the color of their cattle — one preferring 
red — the other pied. Would this be just ? The answer 
must settle the question with all men who are free from 
prejudice. 

A wise Legislature will always consider the character, 
condition, and feeling of those to be legislated for. In a 
government and people like ours, this is indispensable. 
The question now under debate demands this conside- 
ration. To a part of the United States, and that part 
wiiich supports the amendment, it cannot be important, 
except as it is made so by the circumstances of the times, 
in all questions like the present, in the United States, the 
strong may yield without disgrace, even in their own 
opinion ; the weak, cannot } hence, the propriety pf noi 
1 * 



attempting' to impose this new condition on the people of 
Missouri. Tlieir numbers are few, compared to those of 
the whole U. States. Let the U. States, then, abandon this 
new scheme ; let their mag-nanimity and not their power 
be felt by the people of Missouri. The attempt to g-ov- 
ern too much, has produced every civil war that ever has 
bee IS, and will, probabiy, every one that ever may be. — 
All governments, no matter what their form, want more 
power and more authority, and all the g-overned want 
less government. Great Britain lost the United States 
by attempting to govern too much, and to introduce new 
principles of governing. The United States would not 
submit to the attempt, and earnestly endeavored to per- 
suade Great Britain to abandon it, but in vain. The Unit- 
ed States would not yield ; and the result is known to 
the world. The battle is not to the strong, nor the race 
to the swift. What reason have we to expect that we 
can persuade Missouri to yield to ©ur opinion, that did not 
apply as strongly to Great Britain ? I'hey are as near 
akm to us, as we were to Great Britain. They are 
*' flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone " But as to 
kin, wlien they fall out, they do not make up sooner than 
other people. Great Britain attempted to govern us on 
a new princij^le, and we attempt to establish a new prin- 
ciple for the people of Missouri, on becoming a slate. 
Great Britain attempted to lay a three-penny tax on the 
tea consumed in the then colonies, which were not re- 
presented in Parliament ; and we to regulate what shall 
be pi'operty, when Missouri becomes a state, when she 
has no vote in Congress. The great English principle, 
of no tax without representation, was violated in one case, 
and the great American principle, that the people are 
able to govern themselves, will be, if the amendment be 
adopted. Kvery free nation has had some principle in 
their government, to which more importance was at- 
tached than to any other. The English was not to be 
taxed, without tueu consent given in Par iament ; the 
American is to form their own state government, so 
that it be not inconsistent with thai of the United Slates. 
If the power in Congress to pass the restriction was ex- 
pressly delegated, and so clear, that no one could doubt 
it, in the present circumstances of the country, it would 
not be wise or prudent to do so ; especially against the 
consent of those who live in the territory. 'Iheir con- 
tent would be more important to the nation, than a re- 
striction, which would not make one slave less, unless 
they might be starved in the old states. 

Let me not be understood as wishing or intending to 
create any alarm as to the intentions of Uie people of Missou- 



ri. I know nothing of them. But in examining" the question 
weoujjhl not toforg-etonrown history, nor tiie characier of 
those who settle on our frontiers. Your easy chimney- 
corner people, the tuTiid and fearful, never move to 
them. They stay svhere there is no dang-er from an In- 
dian, or any wild beast. They have no desire to eni,'-age 
the panther or the bear. It is the bravest of the brave, 
and the boldest of the bold, who venture there. They g-o, 
not to return. 

The setthng- of Kentucky and Tennessee, during" the 
war of the Revolution, proves, in the most satisfactory 
manner, what they can do, and will undergo, and that 
they will not return. The few people who first settled 
there, had to contend, without aid from the states, a- 
gair.st all tlie Indians borciering on the U. States, except 
the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, and maintained their 
stations. The Nortiiern tribes, unaided by the Southern, 
attacked the United States, since the adoption oi the con- 
stitution, defeated two armies, and it required a third to 
conquer them. The frontier people, in the revolutionary 
war, as well as in the late, astonished every body by 
their great exploits. Vermont, though claimed, during 
the Revolutionary war, by New Hampshire and New 
\'ork, was not inferior to any of the states in her exer- 
tions to support independence. The gentlemen from 
Pennsylvania will pardon me for stating, that that state 
has had some experience of their government managing 
a few people, wlio would not yield obedience to their au- 
thority, thougli settled within their hmits. They were 
obliged to compromise. I mean the Wyoming settlers. 
Again, since tl.is government was in operation, a few peo- 
ple settled on the Indian lands : they were ordered to 
move from them, but did not obe}'. The militarv were sent 
to burn their cabins. The commanding officer told them 
his business, and very humanely advised them to move 
what property they had out of them. This they did, and 
their cabins were burnt. 'I'hey waited till the troops 
marched, and very soon after built new cabins on the 
same places, and to the same backs where the old ones 
had been burnt. These fucts are stated to show that a 
contest with a people who beheve themselves right, and 
one with a government, are very different things. It 
would have been very gratifying to me to have been in- 
formed by some one of the gentlemen who support the 
amendment, what is intended to be done if it be adopt- 
ed, and the people of Missouri will not yield, but go on 
and form a state government, (having the requisite num- 
ber, agreeably to the ordinance,) as Tennessee did, and 
then apply for admission into the Union. Will she be ad- 
mitted, as Tennessee was, on an equal footing with the 



8 

original states, or will the application be rejected, as the 
Br lisli g-overnraent did the petitions ot ttie old Congress ? 
If you do not admit iier, and she will not return to the 
territorial g'ovtrnment, will you declare the people re- 
bels, as (ireat Britain did us, and order them to be 
conquered, for contending" for tlie same rig-hts that every 
state in the Union now enjoys ? Will you for this order 
the lather to march ag-ainst the son, and brother ag-ainst 
brother ? God forbid ! It would be a terrible sig-ht to 
behold these near relations plunging the bayonet into 
each other, for no other reason than because the people 
of iVHssouri wish to be on an equal footing with the peo- 
ple of Louisiana. When territories they were so. Those 
who remember the Revolution will not desire to see an- 
other civil war in our land. They know too well the 
wretched scenes it will produce. If you should declare 
them rebels, and conquer them, will that attach tliem to 
the Union f No one can expect this. Then do not at- 
tempt to do that for them which was never done for oth- 
ers, and which luf slate would consent for Congress to do 
for it. If the U. States are to make conquests, do not let 
the fiiSt be at home. Notlnng is to begot by American 
conquering American. Nor ought we to forget that we 
are not legislating for ourselves, and that the American 
character is not yielding when rights are concerned. 

We have been told, and told again, that the amend- 
ment will be an advantage to the people of Missouri ; 
but they, like others, are willing to decide for them- 
selves. We are also told that the people in the new states 
over the Ohio river are in favor of the restriction. Pass 
it, and half the industry and exertion which have been 
used to excite the present feeling in the United States, 
might excite those people very differently ; they might 
be persuaded that it was done to prevent settling the 
country with inhabitants from the old states — to prevent 
their being able to elect the President west of the Moun- 
tains ; and it is not impossible that the present great ex- 
citement of public opinion may have somewhat of elec- 
tion in it. The Senate was intended, by the longtime 
for which its members are elected, to check every impro- 
per direction of the public mind. It is its duty to do so ; 
and never was there a more proper occasion than the 
present. The character of the present excitement is 
such, that no man can foresee what consequences may 
grow out of it. 

But why depart from the good old way, which has 
kept us in quiet, peace, and harmony — every one living 
under his own vine and fig tree, and none to make him 
afraid ? Why leave the road of experience, which has sa- 



9 

tisfied all, and made all happy, to take this new way, of 
which we have no experience ? The way leads to uni- 
versal emancipation, of which we have no experience. 
The eastern and middle states furnish none. For years 
before they emancipated they had but few, and of these 
a part were sold to the south, before they emancipated. 
We have not more experience or book learning" on this 
subject than the French Convention had which turned 
the slaves of St. Doming-o loose. Nor can we foresee the 
consequences which may result from this motion, more 
than the Convention did their decree. A clause in the 
Declaration of In ependence has been read, declaring 
" that all men are created equal :" follow that sentiment, 
and does it not lead to universal emancipation ? If it will 
justify putting- an end to slavery in Missouri, will it not 
justify it in the old states ? Suppose the plan followed, 
and all the slaves turned loose, and the Union to contin- 
ue, is it certain that the present constitution would last 
long" ? Because the rich would, in such circumstances, 
want titles and hereditary distinctions ; the neg-ro food 
and raiment, and they would be as much, or more degra- 
ded, than in their present condition. The rich mig-ht hire 
these wretched people, and with them attempt to change 
the government, by trampling on the rights of those who 
have only property enough to live comfortably. 

Opinions have greatly changed in some of the states, in 
a few years. The time has been when those now called 
slave-holding states, were thought to be the firm and 
stedfast friends of the people and of liberty. Then they 
were opposing an administration and a majority in Con- 
gress, supported by a sedition law ; then there was not a 
word heard, at least from one side, about those who actu- 
ally did most towards changing the administration and 
the majority in Congress, and tliey were from slave-hold- 
ing states. And now it would be curious to know how 
many members of Congress actually hold seats in conse- 
quence of their exertions at the time alluded to. Past 
services are always forgot when new principles are to be 
introduced. 

It is a fact, that the people who move from the non- 
slave-holding to the slave-holding states, when they be- 
come slave-holders by purchase or marriage, expect more 
labor from them than those do who are brought up a- 
mong then>. To the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. 
Burrill) I tender my hearty thanks for his liberal and true 
statement of the treatment of slaves in the Southern 
states. His observations leave but little for me to add, 
which is this, that the slaves gained as m ich by indepen- 
dence as the free. The old ones are better taken care of 



10 

than any poor in the world, and treated wiUi decent res- 
pect by all their white acquaintances. I sincerely wish 
that he and the gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Ro- 
. berts,) would go home with me, or sonje other southern 
member, and witness ihe meeting between the slaves and 
the owner, and see the glad faces and the hearty sliaking" 
of hands. This is well described in Gen. Mowltrie's His- 
tory of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina ; in 
which he gives the account of his reception by his slaves 
the first time he went home after he was exchanged. He 
was made prisoner at thesurrender of Ciiarleston. Could 
Mr. M. have procured the book in the city, he intended to 
have read it, to shew the attachment of the slave to his 
owner. A fact shall be stated. An excellent friend of 
mine — he too, like the other characters which have been 
mentioned in the debate, was a Virginian — had business 
in England, which made it necessary that he should go 
to that country himself, or send a trusty agent. He could 
not go conveniently, and sent one of his slaves, who re. 
mained there near a year. Upon his return, he was ask- 
ed by his owner how he liked the country, and if he 
would have liked to stay there ? He replied, that to ob- 
lige him he would have staid : the country was the fin- 
est country be ever saw ; the land was worked as nice 
as a square in a garden : they had the finest horses, and 
carriages, and houses, and every thing ; but that the 
•zvhite servants abused his country. What did they say ? 
They said we owed them (the Enghsh) aheap of money, 
and would not pay. To which he added, their chief 
food was muttoti : he saw very little bacon there. 

The owner can make more free in conversation with 
his slave and be more easy in his company, than the rich 
man, where there is n» slave, with the white hireling 
who drives hiscairiage. He has no expectation that the 
slave will, for that free and easy conversation, expect to 
call him fellow cititzen, or act improperly. 

Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, have been 
often mentioned in the debate — and it has frequently 
been said, that the two first had emancipated their slaves; 
from which an inference seemed to be drawn, that the 
other might have done so : emancipation, to these gen- 
tlemen, seems to be quite an easy task. It is so \vhere 
there are but very few : and would be more easy, if the 
color did not every where place the blacks in a degrad- 
ed state. Where they enjoy the most freedom, they are 
there degraded. The respectable whites do not permit 
them to associate with them, or to be of their company 
when they have parties But if it be so easy a task, how 
happens it that in Virginia, which before the revolution 



11 

endeavored to putan end to the African slave trade, has 
not attempted to emancipate ? It will not be pretended^ 
that the great men of other states were superioi, or 
greater lovers of liberty, than her Randolph^ the first 
President of the first Congress, her Washington, her Hen- 
ry, her Jefferson, or her JVelson. None of these ever 
made the attempt— and their names ought to convince 
every one, that it is not an easy task in that state. And 
is it not wonderful, that, if the declaration of independ* 
ence gave authority to emancipate, that the patriots who 
made it, never proposed any plan to carry it nito execu- 
tion ? This motion, whatever may be pretended by its 
friends, must lead to it. And is it not equally wonderful 
that if the Constitution gives the authority, this is the first 
attempt ever made, under either, by the federal govern- 
ment, to exercise it ? For if, under either, the power is 
given, it will apply as well to states as territories. If ei- 
ther intended to ,yive it, is it not siilJ more wonderful that 
it is not given in direct terms? The gentlemen then would 
not be put to tlie trouble oFsearciung ilie confederation, 
the Constitution, and the laws, for a sentence or word to 
form a few doubts. If the words of the declaration of in- 
dependence be taken as part of the Constitution, and 
that they are no part of it is as true as thut they are no 
part of any other book — what will be the condition of the 
southern country w hen this shall be carried into execu- 
tion ? take the most favo. able which can be supposed, 
that no convulsion ensue, that nothing like a massacre or 
a war of extermination take place, as in St. Domingo; but 
that the whites and blacks do not marry and produce 
mulatto states. Will not the whites be compelled to move 
and leave their land and houses, and leave the country to 
the blacks P and are you willing to have bluck members 
of Congress ? But if the scenes of St. Domingo should 
be reacted, would not the tomahawk and scalping knife 
be mercy ? 

But, before the question be taken on the motion, I 
should be very much obliged to any one of the gentlemen 
from the non-slave-holding states, who would frankly state 
the condition of the blacks in th.- state he represents, espe- 
cially their condition in the large cities ; whether the 
whites and the blacks intermarry. If they do, whether 
the whites are not degraded by it — whether the blacks 
are in the learned professions of law and physic, and whe- 
ther they are not degraded. If they be degraded, where 
there are so few, what will be the consequence when 
they are equal in number or nearly so to the whites ? Ev- 
ery one will decide this for himself. It may be stated, 
without fear of contradiction,that there is no place for the 



12 

free blacks in the United States — no place where they 
are not degraded. If there was such a place, the society 
for colonizing- them would not have been formed ; their 
benevolent desig-n never known. A country wanting- in- 
habitants, and a society formed to colonize a part of them, 
prove there is no place for them. 

Some ofthe arg"uments used in the present debate 
convey to my mind the impression, that it was thought 
the owning of slaves enervated and enfeebled the own- 
ers. Let the history ofthe revolution and ofthe late war 
be examined, and nothing like it will be found. Facts 
enough might be stated to prove it was not so — two 
only will be mentioned. The battle of King's Moun- 
tain and that of N. Orleans. But on this subject, 1 will, with 
permission of the Senate, read a part of the speech of 
that celebrated master of the human character, (Mr. 
Burke) on his motion for reconciliation with the colonies, 
delivered in 1775; his language is this: " Sir, I can 
perceive by their manner, that some gentlemen object to 
the latitude of this description ; because in the southern 
colonies the Church of England forms a large body, and 
has a regular establishment. It is certainly true. There 
is however a circumstance attending- tliese colonies, 
■whichjin my opinion, fully counterbalances this difference^ 
and makes the spirit of libi rty still more high and haug'h- 
ty than in those to the northward. It is that in Virginia 
and the Carohnas, they have avast multitude of slaves. 
Where this is the case, in any part of the world, those 
who are free, are by far the most proud and jealous of 
their freedom." To this, I will not attempt to add a word. 
No man can add to Mr. Burke. Mr. M. said he intended 
to have read the part in which the character of New Eng"- 
land is given ; it is equally honorable and equally true : 
but he was so much exliausted, he would omit it. The 
whole speech is well worthy of being read on this occa- 
sion. 

Nor are the owners of slaves less moral or less rehgious 
than those who hold none. This fact might have been 
ascertained from the preachers of the Gospel who have 
travelled from the slave holding stales to the non-slave 
holding to preach. And that they are not less fit for 
managing the great concerns of others may be ascertain- 
ed by knowing who presides over the Bank ofthe Unit- 
ed States. When its affairs fell into confusion, where 
did the Directors find a man to preside over it ? This is 
not mentioned to cast a shade on any one living, but to 
show that, in private concerns of the greatest importance, 
no regard has been paid to a man's being- born and 
brought up in a state holding slaves— nor to convey any 
opinion as to tlie past transactions of thatinstitulion. 



15 

Permit me now to notice a few of the observations 
made in defence of this motion. The gentleman from 
Pennsylvania, (Mr. Roberts) told us, that nothing but ne- 
cessity tolerated slavery in the United States. The con- 
stitution tolerates it ; and that was not adopted from 
necessity, but through choice. If the necessity ever 
ceases, who is to decide when? Congress did not 
decide for Pennsylvania, or any other state : she decided 
for herself. Let Missouri do the same. 

The gentleman from New Hampshire, (Mr. Morril,) 
has said, that the Constitution was a compromise as to 
slaves. This, no doubt, is true ; but not a compromise to 
emancipate. The states that held them could free them 
as others had done, without askmg or consulting the 
Convention or Congress. But it was a compromise as to 
representation, and nothing else. He has also said, sla- 
very was a curse, and has read a part of Mr. Jefferson's 
Notes on Virginia, to prove it. But what ougUt surely to 
be inferred from Mr. Jeiferson's notes and life, is, that 
he thinks slavery a curse, but thinks it a greater curse 
to emancipate in his native Virginia. His democracy, 
like that of his great countrymen who have been before 
mentioned, appears to be of ihe white family. Both the 
gentlemen have stated tliat the slaves are represented. 
Are not the blacks every where represented ? Emanci- 
pate them and they stay where they are ; and two-fifths 
of their number will be added to the representation, tho* 
they are not permitted to enlist in our army. 

The gentleman from Uhode Island, (Mr. Burrill,) seem- 
ed to think the question about slaves ought to be touched 
very delicately. He did touch it so. But there is no 
power in the General Government to touch it in any way. 
He observed that the people who had moved to Missou- 
ri from the old states, had no claim of any kind under the 
treaty. He will not, ! am sure, on reflection, think that the 
people of any acquired territory can have more rights in 
the territory, than the good people of the old states, 
when they move to it. They carry with them their 
rights, as our forefathers brought theirs from England, 
■when they first came to America. 

It has often been stated, that the law establishing a ter- 
ritory in Louisiana, prohibited the carrying of slaves there, 
unless the owner moved with them. This provision in 
the law was made and intended to prevent the carrying 
Africans there — one of the states having opened her ports 
for the African slave trade about .he time. But, with all 
the si'\s of holding slaves, we have not th;tt of goin^ to 
Africa for them. They have been brought to us by the 
citizens of the states which hold none. The only time, in 
2 



14 

Congress, that I ever heard the slave trade defeJidedj 
was by a member from the same state with the gentle- 
man from Rhode Island, (Mr. Burrill.) 

Why not leave the people of Missouri exactly as the 
other territories have been left, free to do as they please ? 
A majority of them have moved from the states, and un- 
derstand self government. 

One word on the African slave trade. A bill was re- 
ported in the Senate to whip those who mig-ht be in any 
way engag-ed in it. The whipping was struck out, (not 
by the votes of those who represented slave states,) be- 
cause a rich merchant might be convicted* and it would 
not do to whip a gentleman. 

If the amendment be adopted, Missouri will have fewer 
rights as a state, than as a territory. This is new in the 
United States. And had not the wise King of Israel said, 
there is nothing new under the sun, this would be thought 
so. The vote of the Senate last year on this same ques- 
tion was sufficient to convince the people of Missouri 
that the Senate then thought they had the same rights 
with the other territories. But, all this attention to Mis- 
souri, reminds me of people who, when young, married 
to please theniselves, but who, when old, were desirous 
to make matches for others. 

Tired as he was, he would offer a few observations on 
the constitution and the treaty ; both of which, as well 
fts the laws, which surely cannot affect a right secured 
by either of the others, have been searched with un- 
common industry, and every sentence or word which 
could possibly be supposed to have the least bearing on 
the subject has been read and scanned, as if this was a 
question of syntax, and as if the rights of people depend- 
ed on detached sentences or words. Can it be thought 
that the Convention which framed tlie constitution would 
have given the power to emancipate in so indirect a way 
that it was never discovered till the last session, when 
they were so particular as even to prohibit an interfe-* 
fence with the slave trade until 1808? The following 
words in the constitution are chiefly relied on for the au- 
thority : " Congress shall have power to dispose of, and 
make all needful rules and regulations respectmg the ter- 
ritory and other property belonging to the United States.' 
The fair and only meaning of these words is, that Con- 
gress may sell and manage their own property, but not 
the property of the people. The power over the tern- 
tories is very different from that over the District of Co- 
lumbia, where exclusive legislation is granted. " New 
states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union. * 
Under these words, a power is claimed to declare what 



15 

shall be property in a new state. As well might a power 
be claimed to fix the age when people shall marry in the 
state. The ordinance so often referred to declares, that 
the new states shall be admitted on an equal footing with 
the original states. And so all the new states have been. 
It seems to be authority for every one but Missouri. The 
words were intended to take the place of an article in 
tlie confederation, which provided for the unconditional 
admission of Canada into the Union. They have no ap- 
plication to what was then called the north-western ter- 
ritory, because the states to be formed in that, were to 
come into the Union under the ordinance. What was 
intended for Canada has brought Louisiana into the Union, 
This clause has also been relied on — «< The migration op 
importation of such persons as any of the states now ex- 
isting shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
by the Congress prior to the year 1808 ; but a tax or duty 
may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten 
dollars for each person.*' The importation may be taxed, 
but not the migration. If, as has been supposed, both 
apphed to slaves, why not tax both ? Migration was not 
intended for slaves brought into the United States by 
and. At the time the constitution was formed, it is pro- 
bable that no attempt to do this had ever been made. 
The gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Burrill) has said, 
unless the amendment be adopted, that slaves will be car- 
ried from Santa Fee to Missouri. If so, they will be car- 
ried against law ; and, if the law is not obeyed, they may 
be carried into Louisiana. Impertation means property, 
migration does not. He would now turn to another 
clause, which ought to convince every one that the con- 
stitution intended that new states, holding slaves, might 
be admitted. It is in the following words : « Represen- 
tatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several states which may be included within this Union, 
according to their respective numbers, which shall be 
determined by adding to the whole number of free per- 
sons, including those bound to service for a term of years, 
and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other 
persons." This, like tlie other clauses of the constitu- 
tion which have been noticed, is so plain and clear that 
no argument can render it more so : " Which may be 
admitted," cannot be made to mean the states then in 
the Union. 

The treaty is as plain as the constitution. The people 
are to be protected in their property; and slaves were 
property, both before and since its ratification. If the 
property in slaves be destroyed by indirect means, it is 
as much a violation of the treaty as if it was done directly. 



16 

Pass the amendment, and the property in them is indi- 
rectly destroyed; and yet it is the only property secured 
to the owner by the constitution. The power to touch 
the subject is claimed by a stretching- implication. It 
is to be found in no part of the constitution or the treaty. 
It is stretching" the constitution more than it ever was 
before : and it ought to be remembered, that, since the 
election of Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency, it has not 
been stretched without injuring the people. In giving 
a stretching construction to the constitution, we ought 
not to forget that the Holy Scripture, which contains no- 
thing but peace and good will to man, was, by a stretch- 
ing construction, made to cover the terrible inquisition 
and the wild crusades. And it would seem, from what 
we have heard, as dangerous to hold a slave, as to say t© 
thy brother, thou fool, or thoii liar. 

It is to be regretted, that, notwithstanding the com- 
promise made in the constitution about slaves, gentle- 
men had thought proper, at almost every session, to bring 
the subject before Congress, in seme shape or other, and 
that they regularly, in their arguments, claim new power 
over them. What have the people of the southern states 
done, that such a strong desire should be manifested to 
pen them up ? It cannot be because their representa- 
tives have uniformly opposed the African slave trade, or 
because they as uniformly opposed the impressment of 
American sailors by British officers ; or because their 
banks are drained of specie to supply other places, and 
the revenue collected from them is not spent among 
them ; or beeause they have been so tolerant in politics 
that when Mr. Jefferson came into office, their oppo- 
nents, who had every office, w^ere not turned out— a proof 
that they did not oppose them for their places of honor 
or profit; or because they have been willing to admit 
new states into the Union without regard to the number of 
people; — Ohio will remember, that the speeches of south- 
ern members were printed to induce her citizens to be- 
come a state — or because they have never requested 
Congress to tax others for their benefit ; or because they 
have not abused the late pension law, but have at all 
times been obedient to the laws of the United States and 
of the states, never giving cause for uneasiness or alarm 
to the United States or'the neighboring states, and, at 
all times which tried men's souls, have been found good 
and true ; or because, in old times, they opposed the 
shutting of the Mississippi for 25 years. 

If the decision be in favor of the amendment, it may 
ruin us and our children after us ; if against it, no injury 
will result to any part of the United States. Let it be 



17 

what it may, my prayer to God shall be, that it may be- 
nefit the nation and promote the happiness of the people, 
and that the Union of these states, and the constitution, 
may be as lasting as the Allegany. 

The following is the part of the history by GeA. 
Moultrie, alluded to by Mr. Macon : 

« On my way from Gen. Marion's to Gen. Green's 
camp, my plantation was in the direct road, where I call- 
ed, and staid a night. On my entering the place, as soon 
as the negroes discovered that I was of the party, there 
was immediately a general alarm, & an outcry, that * Massa 
was come ! Massa was come !' and they were running from 
every part, with great joy, to see me. I stood in the piazza 
to receive them : they gazed at me with astonishment, 
and every one came and took me by the hand, saying, 
* God bless you, massa ! We glad to see you, massa !' and 
every now and then some one or other would come out 
with a • ky !* and the old Africans joined in a war song, 
in their own language, of ' welcome the war home.' It 
was an affecting meeting between the slaves and the 
master : the tears stole down my eyes, and run down my 
cheeks. A number of gentlemen that were with me 
could not help being affected by the scene. Many are 
still alive, and remember the circumstance. I then pos- 
sessed about two hundred slaves ; and not one of them 
left me during the war, although they had had great 
offers, nay, some were carried down to work on the Bri- 
tish lines, yet they always contrived to make their es- 
cape and return home. My plantation I found to be a 
desolate place ; stock of every kind taken off; the fur- 
niture carried away; and my estate had been under se. 
questration." 






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